abdul began it any baradar is now in custody. what is he telling interrogators about the terror network and could this be the beginning of the end of the war in afghanistan? a live report from pakistan just ahead. plus his story has been a big mystery, but now researchers have uncovered incredible new details in to the life and death of the boy king tut. we'll tell you what's been uncovered. but we begin with more possible trouble for toyota as the u.s. government tightens the screws. the company held another news conference in tokyo overnight announcing that it is investigating a possible problem withhe corolla's power steering. toyota's president also saying the company will cooperate with washington, but he won't be coming it to the united states to answer any questions. kim has all the highlights. she's live in tokyo. >> reporter: good morning. well, we heard today toyota

trying to be a little more transparent, so we he got administer detail about its recall and how it is going. toyota in the future, it will be making a number of technological changes beginning with a system called the brake override system. so in all future vehicles, if you buy a toyota, if you hit the gas and the brake at the same time, this brake override system will kill the engine. toyota saying it's also going to start using so-called black boxes a little more frequently in its newer cars so if there is a problem, if there's an accident that they can't figure out, they'll be able to plug in to this black box and figure out what happened leading up to the crash. toyota saying it's continuing its recall process and frying to answer all those questions about the sticky accelerator, but saying that the electronic 24r08g9s control system right now they believe is safe, tell's have a third party test it, they will make that report available to the public. and toyota saying it's also going to listen to its customers a little better. they'll put somebody in the united states called a chief

quality officer. this person, his sole job will be to listen to quality issues that customers have. so toyota is definitely trying to talk a little more, but someone who is not talking to u.s. lawmakers at least is the president of toyota, akio toe "today saying he has no plans to testify before congress next week. analysts say that is a huge mistake. >> it's a concern to me that the toyota management still thinks it's an option whether or not the president testifies in the congress. this is something he has to do. he can't just say i'm too busy or he can't send somebody else. this is toyota eye biggest crisis it's faced in its history. he has to be seen to be out front. >> reporter: in regards to the

corolla and its power steering issues, toyota says there are fewer than 100 complaints. they're taking all those very seriously, but right now, not issuing a recall. >> we'll continue to watch this and see where it goes. kim, thanks so much. for an in-depth look at the recall, gee cnn.com/toyota, find out whether he are driving one of the 8.5 million cars that have been recalled and what to do. also new this morning, the battle for marjah rages on for a fifth day in afghanistan. afghan soldiers and nato troops are said to be make something progress if their effort to gain control of the taliban stronghold in southern afghanistan. marines also facing nearly constant attack from taliban forces in marjah for the past four days. it's the biggest mail taker offensive since the war began. two nato members were killed yesterday. meantime the taliban continues to deny that baradar is now in custody. he's considered the number two

leader and his capture could have a crippling effect on the operations in that nation at least in the short term. we dig deeper on the big blow to the taliban. >> reporter: good morning. new information about the arrest of baradar. of course yesterday back stand any officials said they had not completed what they're calling an official identification process. today that process was completed and it indeed reveal that had one of the most wanted men in the afghan taliban is how in custody. in the nine years u.s. forces have been fighting the afghan taliban, never have security forces arrested a figure more significant than mule la abdul ghani baradar, this according to a senior u.s. administration official. in the taliban's chain of command, baradar is second only to its leader mullah omar.

one pakistani based analyst called baradar the de facto leader with mullah omar staying out of the scene, baradar was running the operation, he says. two pakistani intelligence officials tell cnn baradar was arrested in karachi, a crowded and chaotic city in southern pakistan. a place analysts say senior taliban leaders have recently used as a safe haven. according to intelligence officials, baradar was nabbed in a secret joint raid conducted buyer the cia and pakistan eye isi. two spy agency which is haven't always been trusting partners. for years, u.s. intelligence officials believed some elements within the isi protected the afghan taliban instead of going after them. with the end goal of securing the taliban as an ally in afghanistan once u.s. and international forces left the region. john kerry in islamabad on

tuesday told cnn baradar's arrest shows trust between the u.s. and pakistan is building. >> it kinlsconvinces me there i growing revel level of corporat. >> reporter: but in a sign that disconnect continues, the interior minister down played reports of baradar's arrest and 234r59ly denied the cia was involved. >> the cia is never and will never report of any raids. yes, we do share information. the cooperation stands limited of intelligence sharing, nothing else. >> reporter: well aware that reports of cia agents operating on pakistani soil could spark a public backlash here in pakistan where polls show it's america that's the number one enemy, not the taliban. for the taliban, the arrest of mullah baradar means the loss of

their military commander at a time when they're facing their toughest test in year, a u.s. led offensive targeting marjah. neither u.s. nor pakistani officials are revealing details about this arrest or where baradar is, but one thing's clear, if anyone knows where osama bin laden is or where taliban leader mullah omar is it's baradar. so you can be sure investigators will be asking him a lot of questions. >> absolutely. thank you. seven minutes after the hour. a tragic end to that drama to mount st. helens. the body of a clirm was recovered yesterday. joseph bohlig fell 1500 feet. he had climbed the volcano 68 times before the accident. low visibility, high wind and snow hampered rescue ertss. an autopsy is being conducted to determine if he died of injury, hypothermia or a combination of

factors. major construction on the international space station is complete. overnight astronauts ventured out on their third and final spacewalk and put the finishing touches 00 an be observation deck. the new port offers 360 degree views of the outside. the shuttle "endeavour" and its six astronauts are expected to leeft space station friday. america has a new top dog. a charming jet black scottish terrier, sadie pranced her way to the best in show. she came in a fan favorite already winning 111 best in show. >> congratulations. well, sarah palin slams fox's prime time cartoon "family guy" after one of the show's characters dates a girl who has down syndrome. >> so what do your parents do? >> my dad's an accountant and my

mom is the former governor of alaska. >> on her facebook page, palin called the scene a kick in the gut. she then asked her daughter to make a statement saying it would be more restrained and gracious. bristol wrote if the writers thought they were being clever, they failed. all they proved is that they're heartless jerks. let get a quick check of the morning's headlines. what have we got, rob? >> cold air driving all the way down to the gulf of mexico. it still feels like the beginning of january. that includes lake-effect snows spiraling around the area of low pressure that continues to bring in that canadian air with northwest winds across parts of the great lakes. still firing off some showers. no warnings or watches at this point, but syracuse the to sdran son and then getting to pittsburgh where it's wipding up to be one of their snowiest months ever. currently 28 degrees in atlanta and 35 degrees as they clean up

on bourbon street in new orleans. it's the beginning of lent and we'll be back in about 30 minutes with more on weather. >> what are you giving up for lent? how about bad weather? >> yeah, i've tried that before. pretty much didn't work out with every other new year's resolution i've made. i'll work on that for you. still ahead, reaching out to the tea party. michael steele trying to find common ground. ten minutes after the hour. i have astigmatism. so my old contact lenses would sometimes move out of place and blur my vision. my eye doctor said there's great news for people with astigmatism. acuvue oasys for astigmatism. they work with the way my eyes move and blink, which helps them stay in place. and this is the only lens of its kind made with hydraclear plus. i'm seeing more clearly, crisply, comfortably,

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preferred package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose your service, choose your savings. like an oil change for just $19.95. meineke. a quick check of the other stories new this morning. president obama is determined to have a deficit commission with or without congressional approval. tomorrow he's expected to

announce the creation of his own commission by executive order. the president is going to it alone after senators on both sides of the aisle rejected his dwlad could force lawmakers to reduce the debt. last year's deficit was $1.4 trillion and this year's could top that. the republican party forging an uneasy truce with the conservative tea party. yesterday republican national committee chairman michael steele sat down with about 50 leaders of the growing grass roots movement. at issue, will they be partners orbit bitter rivals. >> it was congenial. everybody wanted to figure out what kind of assets could you bring to the game. if his agenda or the people that he backs don't support that, i find that i'll put my energies like they will in an area where i think it will achieve the most good. >> michael steele says the two groups do share the common goal and that is topping president obama's agenda.

well, last week the blizzard in washington essentially shut down the entire city, even congress was closed. and lawmakers pretty much weren't able to get anything done. >> but is that really different from the days that lawmakers are at work? some people might say at least they didn't do any damage. tom foreman as the break down on our broken down congress. >> reporter: the top democrat calls for cooperation saying voters will tolerate nothing less. >> we're tired of partisanship and the shouting and the pettiness. they know we can't afford it. >> reporter: the republicans say the same. >> we want results, not rhetoric. we want cooperation, not partisanship. >> reporter: and yet both parties have failed repeatedly to reach such an accord. the past year saw a steady stream of party line votes with almost no democrats or republicans crossing over in the name of compromise. the democrats fought off republican filibusters 39 times

with poacher votes, more than in the 1950s and '60s combined. while bitter fighting between and within the parties crippled health care and banking reform and spurred sharp complaints about even programs that passed like the stimulus plan. >> this government is out of control. >> reporter: no wonder retiring indiana senator evan bayh says -- >> even at a time of enormous national challenge, the people's business is not getting done. >> reporter: that theme is being echoed by many departing politicians amid soaring unemployment, a liquoring housing crisis, and gridlock, gridlock, gridlock. political analysts predict it could all produce a great many more upset like the one that gave the late democratic ted kennedy's seat to a republican. >> quhapd here in massachusetts can happen all over america. >> reporter: after trailing a very long time, the republicans now have a statistically

insignificant lead over the democrats in who voters want in congress, but that is cold comfort in a winter of great discontent. tom foreman reporting for from us washington. coming up, the government is accused of wasting millions on the censuses. gerri willis is minding your business. 16 past the hour. determine if a car is a best buy? first, they drive it in the real world and put it through its paces. they rate its fit and finish and the amenities inside. they factor in purchase price and operating costs, fuel economy, and resale value. in short, they do what you do to test its quality. the consumers digest best buys from chevy. put them to your own test. and may the best car win. ♪

it's time for minding your business. vice president biden had release a stimulus report card today on the one year an vniversary of t program. the pace of stimulus spending should increase in the year ahead.

the government expected to distribute $32 billion in stimulus money per month, up from an average of $27 billion a month over the past year. coming up at 6:30, jim acosta reports on are taxpayers dollars xwo to go stimulus programs in the u.s. virgin islands? >> burger king launching a new line of coffee trying to boost slumping where he fast sales. they will certain the seattle's best coffee in its restaurants. they're taking a page from mcdonald's which has had great success from its mccafe line of coffees. >> i think jim was already on the virgin islands for do that story on the tea party cruise, so he was actually being fiscally responsible. >> well, we're just jealous because it's freezes here and snowy and he's sunning himself. >> exactly. so it hasn't even started yet and already it's overbudget. we're talking about the census.

and gerri willis minding your business this morning. >> unbelievable. yeah, we haven't even started. it's a month away and we haven't even filled out the first census form and already we're overbudget. let's take a look. the very first phase of had this census is updating the mailing list, but we've already overspent by 25% or $88 million. we handed out some excess mileage reimbursement to the tune of 136,000. and then there was some workers who were hired, trained, but never worked. then there were folks who trained and worked less than a day for $2.2 million. so as you're seeing, the in-speaking tore general, the commerce department saying that we're wasting a lot of money here. the census of course will count all 300 million of us. the total budget is $14.7 billion. that's a whole lot of money pup of to wonder if this is our track record so far how we're going do over the course of censuses that whole thing runs out. and this is important because

this is how we distribute u.s. house seats, billions of dollars in federal aid go out based on the census. it's critically important that it be conducted correctly. and i'm wondering complaint we do this online some isn't there an easier way than having somebody go for-to-your front door and have you fill out these form forms? >> isn't it a lot of it done online, where they're sent the census form and -- it's not done online, but they only knock on your door if there's a problem? >> they're knocking on the door to update the mailing list. they're doing it in the minority communities because that's where undercounting normally goes on. so i think people will watch and see how the spending go, but it's critically important that we get this thing right. >> but the fact they're spending money to train them and then not using them? >> yeah, some people quit. >> who is in charge of that?

>> exactly. but what they're saying is that some of these folks probably quit because they're temporary jobs, and then some of these jobs just never got under way. so they went in, they did the training, and nothing happened. >> tax dollars at work. >> exactly. next on the most news in the morning, there's a new push for nuclear energy, but what do you do with the waste? it's an old debate flaring up again.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. the obama administration is getting on the nuclear power band wagon in a very big way. the president announcing more than $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to build new reactors in georgia. it's the first reactor construction since the 1970s. but with nuclear power comes nuclear waste. and that's producing a politically charged controversy. brian todd is digging deeper this morning. >> reporter: good morning. the president's announcement to fund two nuclear reactors again sparks debate over the safety of nuclear power and it reignites another major controversy over the storage of nuclear waste. some 70,000 metric tons of nuclear waste stored in so-called casts of steel, concrete and lead, at more than 100 commercial power plants across the u.s. and other locations. 2,000 tons added to the pile every year. u.s. officials say the spent fuel can be safely stored in these containers for 90 years.

but that storage, not disposal. and it's the disposal problem that's got some in the have i worried. >> if the nuclear fuel is safe at the sites where it's stored now and if it can be safe almost indefinitely, why do you need a nuclear repository? >> you ultimately need a nuclear repository because just like all waste in a society, we have to put them someplace. you deal with biological waste, chemical waste, every day trash. >> jack runs a company that transports nuclear material. he's against president obama's decision to cut funding for the project in nevada that was supposed to be an under ground fatal fa silt for nuclear waste. why did he pull the plug? mark sanford accuses mr. obama of what he calls a chicago style political pay jooff to harry re. reid is from nevada and he's in a such re-election battle. >> it is the obama administration's choice in this

instance based on election outcome that they might fear in nevada to make in decision. >> reporter: sanford has political motivation, too. his state ranks third in the country in the a nuke clooer waste stored. contacted by cnn, an obama administration official emphatically denied this is political, saying the president's always been against yuca mountain. there have been mounting cost overruns and serious concerns about its scientific viability and the security of transporting nuclear fuel from all the commercial nuclear power plants across the country. and aide to senator reid also denied political motivations. cites concerns about costs and security. >> leave it on site, where it is, you don't have to worry about transporting it, it saves the country billions of dollars. >> reporter: in place of yuca mountain, the nuclear energy institute is against the decision to cut the project but

does support the president's new panel. >> this are significant developments over the last several decades that can be taken into consideration. france has gone forward with recycling. they're having a lot of success with that program. >> reporter: but one energy industry executive points out the united states has other types of nuclear fuel that cannot be so easily recycled from places like my value facilities where they process fuel for nuclear powered ships and submarines. >> brian, thankses. coming up at 8:38, christine todd whitt map, from the energy coalition and robert f. kennedy jr. will join to us debate the nuclear power controversy. good idea or bad idea? 30 minutes after the hour. that means it's time for this morning's top stories. toyota saying a corolla recall could be the next step. they're looking into a possible problem with the power steering. the reported capture of the number two taliban leader mullah abdul ghani baradar is being

hailed as the most significant of the afghanistan war. baradar now being interrogated in pakistan. officials say that his arrest could cripple insurgent military operations in afghanistan. and police in massachusetts say they have found the missing records in the 1986 death linked to alabama professor amy bishop. according to police documents, in december of 1986, bishop shot and killed her brother, but it was ruled an accident. they also say that the newly uncovered record comes not contradict that. bishop now stands accused of murdering three of her colleagues. there is a brand new study giving us amazing insights in to the life and death of king tut. he's fascinated historians his tis tomb was discovered in 1922 and no using high-tech forensics, researchers have uncover deed tails about the boy pharaoh that have been buried for more than 3,000 years. secretary general of egypt's supreme council of antiquities

joins me now from cairo. thanks for being with us this morning. >> reporter: thank you very much. >> well, this study is fascinating. you guys were able to collect some really incredible new details about king tut and reveal several things through modern technology. tell us what it revealed about his life and how he died. >> i can tell you that this amazing discovery could be the most important discovery after the discover rift tomb of king tut. and all of this will be shown on discovery channel this coming sunday. we found the father of king tut. the amazing thing that we found has no deform differences. you know, people thought that this this man is not normal.

now we found out that the artist who it in the bed of the statue. >> right, so what you were talking about is some depictions of him that make king tut look a little bit more feminine than what he was. but tell us a little bit about how he died. >> but before i tell you about how he died, we found the mummy of the mother of king tut. and the mother of king tut means he married his sister. >> right, so that you -- >> how the king died. >> so you found out his parents were actually brother and

sister. you also found out that he it actually had some crippling degenerative bone issues. he also suffered multiple disorders. and you also were able to discover that he suffered from made layer yarks which is probably what cop treb would you telled to his death. how were you able to find out all of that? >> first of all, when we found by the cat scan machine the deform differences in the left foot, it shows actually that the foot was swollen and this has been shown in the cat scan machine. he was limping. can he not walk. and the malaria cause a high fever. and this doctor we believe we reveal the mystery of the death

of this golden boy king tut. >> it is amazing and i apologize for the delay because you're coming to us from egypt, but really fascinating. really fascinating discoveries that you guy mass. and as you said, they'll be showing these new findings in had this king tut unwrapped which does air on the discovery channel sunday and monday. thanks for your time this morning. also, how did scientists figure out what diseases the boy pharaoh suffered from and what likely killed him? we'll take a look at the medical mysteries uncovered about king tut with dr. sanjay gupta in our next hour. >> did you ever see the king tut exhibit? >> yes. i was fascinated with the whole history of egypt and i made sure that i had a chance to see it. there was so much intrigue and mystery. there was fears that perhaps he was murdered and also that people who uncovered the tomb were cursed for the rest of their lives. >> amazing story and the

artifacts are so incredible. coming up, why are millions of dollars in taxpayer money going to paradise some jim acosta with the tough assignment this morning following the dollars to the u.s. virgin islands. we know why we're here.

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it was a year ago today president obama signed the stimulus bill in it law, then $787 billion to jump-start the u.s. economy. but one surprising area getting more than $130 million of that three tiny islands in the came reb bee an. >> jim acosta braved the elements of a tropical paradise as part of our ongoing effort to uncover where your stimulus dollars are going. and he joins us from washington. >> reporter: good morning. i guess could you call this work. the stimulus is now one year old and you can find stimulus money in all 50 states. but did you know taxpayer dollars are also going to stimulus programs in u.s. territories? at that time u.s. virgin isla s islands. while we were in st. thomas on a different assignment, we saw those green and orange stimulus signs and started doing some digging of our own. nicknamed america's paradise, the u.s. virgin islands are

riding a wave of federal tax dollars these days. the three islands that make up this tiny u.s. territory are slated to receive more than $130 million in stimulus money. the territory's governor says the islands are entitled to the funds. >> we've ban part of the united states since 1917. we're the further most destination in the caribbean, so had this does help to us a very large extent. >> you're manneamericans. >> we're merns. >> reporter: these are looking pord to the new sidewalk outside their high school. the school got ais have it from president obama during the '08 campaign. safer for the children walking home up the hill. and tv ads urge recent departments to apply for $8 million in energy department grants to buy stimulus funded solar hot water heaters. the leaders say the stimulus creating jobs. >> manufacturing, hot water heaters in the territory which is something we've never done in

the past. >> reporter: but the government stimulus website shows of the $19 million received by the virgin islands so far, 152 jobs have been created. about $127,000 per job. >> what the stimulus has done is it has alerted the american people to how government works in general because the money went into existing programs, people are beginning to understand how many of them simply don't work that efficiently. >> reporter: even in paradise, there's a debate over how the stimulus being spent. last year the legislature passed a bill requiring the governor to disclose exactly where stimulus dollars are going. the governor vetoed the legislation. so the territory's legislature overrode that veto last june. city still six months later, the governor had not produced one stim list report. >> not in compliance with the local law in regards to supporting the report. >> reporter: since our visit,

the governor has complied with the law and issued that report. he says he hopes to increase the virgin island's share of the stimulus to $250 million. what would you say to folks who wonder about a quarter of a billion dollars going to paradise? >> well, paradise needs it. it really does help us to be able to accommodate the over 2 million americans that we get every year in terms of tourists to the islands. >> reporter: the stimulus has reached these islands. the critics say the program is still lost at sea. after we turned our cameras off, one senator told us our visit did prompt the governor to issue that report and the virgin islands are nowhere near the biggest stimulus recipient among u.s. territories. puerto rico will get over $2 billion in stimulus money. that's more than nearly 20 states. >> jim acosta this morning. at least you got some results which is great to see. >> reporter: and a tan. it's 41 1/2 after the hour.

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we're back with the most news in the morning. it's time for an a.m. house call. a new study says kids with a sweet tooth are also more likely to have a family history of alcoholism and symptoms of depression. it's already known that sweet tastes and alcohol ak at the straight many of the same circuits in the brain, but doctors say the results do not necessarily mean that a child who has sugar cravings had become addicted to alcohol. it's 45 minutes past the hour. time to get a check of this morning's weather headlines. we turn to rob. chilly again across the south. mardi gras folks cleaning up. there were a few records set down across parts of louisiana. no snowfall records across connecticut, but 11 inches in mary dan. so this storm which brought all the snow is heading out to sea, but the backlash of it in the form of some chilly northwest winds across the great lakes causing some lake-effect snow showers. no lake if he could warnings in effect, but wheeling towards

pittsburgh might get some snow and syracuse and binghamton also in line for a little bit of snowfall today. if you are doing some travel, there will be wind delays in boston and new york. atlanta and charlotte will also see wind delays and snow and low clouds across parts of detroit. the pattern remains the same for the mix couple days with cold air as far south as florida. at the could use the cold air across parts of the olympic. wet snow across whistler, so much so that they had to cancel some of the men's alpine events because of too much snow at least at the higher elevations. but at the lower elevation, still fairly wet and that continues to an problem at cypress. forecasts for vancouver today calls for temperatures, believe it or not, into the lower 50s with sunshine. so their warm weather troubles continue even though they got snow at the higher elevations. can't seem to get a break there inn in vancouver. maybe by the end of the games next week there will be better weather. >> that's the problem. cypress mountain is just a

little bit west and a tiny bit north of vancouver right along the shore there, but whistler's about 90 miles further north and inland, so they get pretty good snows up there. >> and it goes to beg the question would seattle get the olympics because it's pretty much the same climate. these numbers aren't too far off from their averages in vancouver. >> all right, rob, we'll keep watching it. as long as they get buried at whistler and have good snow, you can wait it out for a day or two. but all the snow may have actually been a good thing for lindsey vonn. it gave her extra time to rest her bruised shin and now she's getting antsy and ready to race. >> mark mckay is in vancouver this morning. he had a chance to chat with vonn before her first big race. >> reporter: hurry up and wait. that's been the drill for lindsey vonn. the weather has delayed vonn's

debut here in vancouver. not a bad thing considering she arrived with an injured shin that's healed considerably allowing vonn to take up her pursuit of olympic history. to spend time with american skier lindsey vonn, you may sometimes need an interpreter. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: but you will never need a baby-sitter. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: vonn is america's great hope on the continues of the vancouver olympics and she's embracing that role much tighter than the person who filled it at the torino games, bode miller, whose only success came in his word z in partying at an olympic level. vonn knows the question before it is asked. >> my answer always the same. that's not who i am. i'm not a party girl. i feel like i'm a totally different person than bode. >> reporter: vonn loves ski racing so much that she learned german to better interact with her european fans. she eats and sleeps it, but unlike miller, she does not

drink it. she does admit to one vice that kept her going. mr. send. >> when i was 2 1/2, i think my favorite thing was the hot chocolate and donuts. that was kind of my like treat. i always wanted the donut with the sprinkles on top. >> reporter: the rewards have grown considerably since. the back to back overall world cup champion, vonn has a chance to win all five events she's entered in, a possibility that had been considered for miller as well. but he failed to bring home a single medal. >> for me, honestly, i've never won an olympic medal, so, yes, is it possible to win five? yes. but is it likely? probably not. >> reporter: her confidence is it tempered by her last olympic experience where she was also shut out of the medals. after crashing in her second training run in italy, she spent a night in the hospital before returning to compete barely. >> maybe it unit with a the smartest idea. i definitely was in a lot of pain and that was the situation where that was what the olympics was about for me. just trying to give it your

best. from that point organization never wanted it to have an experience where i was in the finish and i thought i could have done better, could i have done more. and that's been kind of my motivation and my determination for the last four years. >> reporter: weather permitting, vonn gets her start in the downhill, perhaps her best event. that comes later today. the key phrase there, though, weather permitting. john, back to you. >> so ski like bode, but don't acts look bode. >> and she's a sweet girl, very focused. and this delay working in her favor because she did have a bruise on the shin that she had time to rest now. >> and the weather at whistler, that's where i broke my leg, it can be really iffy temperature you can get rain at the lower level, snow at the upper levels, it can be foggy and then suddenly it will clear up. it's part of the world where the weather is just a little sketchy. >> well, we wish her luck. she has a chance at five medals. this morning's top stories just minutes away.

toyota considering a recall on its best selling car in the world. now steering. the news coming overnight. and "family guy," the cartoon knows for going there goes there with sarah palin. how she responded to a joke targeting her and her special needs kids. also a merely 3,000-year-old mystery solved. king tut's autopsy now complete. those stories and much more at the top of the hour. determine if a car is a best buy? first, they drive it in the real world and put it through its paces. they rate its fit and finish and the amenities inside. they factor in purchase price and operating costs, fuel economy, and resale value. in short, they do what you do to test its quality. the consumers digest best buys from chevy. put them to your own test. and may the best car win. ♪

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her knees, it's falling to her knees. how new york kicked off fashion week. >> not once, but twice. >> reporter: less than five seconds after agnes drew applause, fashion for haiti relief show down, she went again. a perfect excuse to recall our favorite falls, to recall our favorite sprawls. from catching a heel in the pantses to falling through the runway. apparently unaware the center was only paper, someone ran to her rescue. no one helped the time naomi campbell went down. >> get a photo. >> idiot, what is wrong with people? >> reporter: she made her fall into an insurance commercial. >> because naomi campbell is smart. >> reporter: jay alexander teaches models how to work and how not to.

carmen electric demonstrated how not to. and the lady run to go her rescue followed in her foot falls. most of the time you can blame the high heels. what we have here is a potential shoe emergency. a beaded spate come undone could undo a model here at the pamela roll happened show. but the shoes here are tame excepted to the late alexander mcqueens. >> a couple girls that wouldn't do the show because it's so dangerous. >> reporter: after falling twice in seven inch heels, what a relief. take those heels off. we've seen miss usas fall twice in recent years. we've seen models conk their head, would he have seen a martial arts performer make a role in the runway and then watch the model who followed his act fall in, but there's one classic.

maybe it's the washington, d.c. anchors. >> never quite recovered after that. there she goes. >> reporter: preserved forever on youtube, replaying and laughing. >> you try walking in those shoes. >> reporter: laughing and replaying. >> hold on, hold on. >> reporter: fashion can stagger more than just the imagination. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> that last one, it was like in slow motion. >> she just kept catching herself. and those shoes are ridiculous. >> totally. they're like this thick. crazy. top stories coming your way in 90 seconds. stay with us. yes, we do. and we can say 700 miles on a single tank and epa-estimated 41 mpg city and all the words stick because they're true. we speak the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan in america. yes, we speak car, and apparently quite well.

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[ le announcer ] icy hot medicated roll for wherever you hurt, icy to dull pain, hot to relax it away. icy hot medicated roll. with the roll, pain's under control. welcome to american morning on this wednesday, february 17th. >> here are the big stories we'll be telling you about coming up in the next 15 minutes. toyota admitting another issue over-knight. the company says it's now investigating a possible problem with the corolla's power steering. the corolla of course the best selling car in the world. we're live in tokyo where toyota's president again faced the media this morning. also a mystery for the ages now solved. scientists say they believe they know what killed king tut. a new study using the latest in genetic technology revealing new

details about how he lived and died. plus cell phone service nationwide out. internet access completely gone and the heights shut off. some of the best security minds in the country wage a page cyber war to try to answer one question. is america ready for the threat? cnn was there to see what happened. we'll take you live to washington for some answers. we begin, though, with more possible problems for toyota. the company held another news conference in tokyo overnight announcing it's investigating a possible problem with the core roll that's power steering. this comes on top of the 8.5 million cars already recalled. the company says it's making progress with the sticky gas pedal problem. as of this morning, more than 20% of the repairs are done. tell us a little bit about this newest trouble with the corolla. >> reporter: this are a lot of people with corollas in their garage. it also the world's number one

is heing vig. according to toyota, they have about 100 or less complaints with the power steering. it feels like you have some loss of control with the steering. toyota saying right now they are not issuing a recall. they are looking at each of those complaints and investigating them thoroughly, but right now, no recall. toyota though did detail some company wide changes that it will be making. technologically, toy says that all future models, it will be putting in something called a brake override system. and what this is that if you lose control of your vehicle as far as the acceleration, and you hit the gas and the brake at the same time, it kills the engine. toyota also saying that they will be moving more of these so-called black boxes. so if there is an accident, engineers can just plug into the engine, plug into this black box, very similar to-to-what we hear about on airplanes, and figure out what led up to that crash. toyota also saying they are going to be looking more in to

the electronic throttle control system. toyota saying that they have hired a third party, independent party, and they will make that report public. and toyota says it will listen to its customers more. they'll put in the united states a person called a chief quality officer, this person's sole job, karen, will be to listen to customers about quality issues. >> and we also learned this morning that the president of the company is not going to come to the united states to answer questions. washington holding an inquiry into how the company hammed the original recalls. do we know why he's choosing not to come? >> reporter: he's saying that he feels that the executives in the united states are closest to the ground. they're the ones who know the system best in the united states and can best answer the questions. but really what we heard in the press room in this news conference was a lot of as tonnishment on the part of reporters. this question came up again and again and again and he kept responding that the people in

the united states, his executive there is, are the best ones. he'll stay here in japan and try to deal with the quality issues. >> all right, thank you. also for an in-depth look at the toyota recall, head to krb.com/toyota. you can find out more about whether you're driving one of the 8.5 million recalled cars and what to to do if you have some of the problems reported. michael steele is being accused this morning of treating the conservative tea party like an ugly date. good enough to take upstairs, but not good enough to be seen with in public. that analogy coming from dan millbank in today's "washington post." after a closed can door meeting with tea party activist, steele denied them the use of gop headquarters for a press conference. they instead got the cold shoulder literally, greeting the media outside in the 21 degree washington air. >> it was congenial. everybody wanted to figure out what kind of as sets he couldbly to the game. i wanted to return to commerce charity and the individual their

rights and responsibilities. and if his agenda or the people that he backs don't support that, i find that i'll put my energies like they will in an area where i think it will achieve the most good. >> steele says he looks pord to more dialogue with tea party leaders. sarah palin is no fan of fox's the "family guy." she lashed out at the creators after an episode featured one of the characters going on a date with a girl who has down syndrome. so you know what we're talking about, here's the scene. >> are you going to be this rude all evening? you haven't asked me anything about myself. >> oh, sorry. so what do your parents do? >> that's better. my dad is an accountant and my mom is the former governor of alaska. >> palin called the episode a kick in the gut and she had her daughter bristol respond. bristol wrote, quote, if the writers have a particularly

pathetic car oon oig show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family, they failed. all they proved is that they are heartless jerks. well, also new this morning, how would you like to make more than a million dollars an hour? of course you'd like it, right? well, according to a report by the nonpartisan center for responsive poll tick, lobbyists spent nearly $3.5 billion last year making pitches to congress and various federal agencies and that amounts to roughly $1.3 million for every hour that lawmakers actually met in 2009. good work if you can get it. a leak of myrous ox side from n. passion dina producing a massive yell hoe and orange smoke cloud over the area. have a look at that. the plant had to be shut down. pretty obvious. the leak which police described as very serious was eventually contained. no yourries were reported. near by residents were told to stay indoors until the chemical cloud dissipated. new research saying that breast cancer survivors who take aspirin regularly may be less

likely to die or have their cancer return. they found that those who took aspirin had a 50% lower risk of ultimately dying from breast cancer and a 50% lower risk of the cancer spreading. we'll be talking about this more with dr. sanjay gupta. >> and good news out of haiti. american airlines plans to resume regular flight there is to and out of haiti on friday. they'll be the first commercial nights since the island was hit by that devastating earthquake. a piece of beatles history now up for sale. abbey road studios where the band recorded some of its most famous songs is being sold by emi to help the record label pay down a $1.6 billion debt. the company hopes to raise tens of millions of dollars from the sale. and america has a new top dog this morning. a charming jet black scottish terrier. sadie pranced her way into the winner's circle after taking the best in show title. sadie came into the dog show a

fan favorite having already won 111 best in show ribbons. >> that's a lot of competitions. busy girl. we have a quek cheick checke weather headlines. raw fan of scottys? >> i'm shocked that a female with that much facial hair would win the top prize. maybe a little grooming before the big show. >> yeah. the poor thing. >> i'm sure she has other fine qualities. let's go to the weather now. a little bit quieter this week, but the cold air in place. lake-effect snow showers will be the call for a good chunk of the eastern u.s. and there it is, from eastern ohio into western pennsylvania, pittsburgh, by the way, in route to possibly its snowiest month ever and we're only halfway through it. 28 currently in atlanta, 29 in birmingham, 27 in jacksonville. speaking of cold, check out this

cool shot from nasa's satellite. this is a high resolution satellite imagery of the snow cover after snowmageddon. so this is before the second blizzard. you see the extreme delineation between new york city and baltimore. the entire area just covered in snow. a fascinating, you can see some of the valleys cut by glaciers over 10,000 years ago. just cool stuff. your tax dollars lard at work. moderate resolution imagery and spec troe radio only ter. if the h. you care to look that one up. anyway, i'm a big fan of dogs in general. and sadie was certainly cute for sure. >> give him a little more rope, see what he does with it about sglp yeah, right. now we know your take on facial hair. thank you, rob. >> i love snowmageddon. great way to describe. brand new study is giving us

amazing insights in b. egypt's king tut. the boy pharaoh has fascinated his torians since his tomb was discovered back in 1922. >> and a report a revealing surprising new details about ancient egypt's most famous pharaoh. >> reporter: it's a mystery for the ages. who or what killed king tut? programs the most famous, he was just 19 when he died more than 3,000 years ago. his tomb stuffed with treasures and artifacts was discovered in 1922 and his mummy has been displayed around the world ever since. but a series of radiographs in 1968 suggested that king tut had suffer had broken leg and apparent head trauma shortly before his death. that led to a number of theories. a fall from a chariot, septicemia from his brog leg, or possibly murder from a blow to the head. but now archeologists have made a historic break through.

a j naet tick animal 70s mummy of king tut and several other people members, a sort of archeological autopsy. murder they say is not likely. they found that the young pharaoh had several inherited disorders as well as signs of malaria at the time of his death. they theorized that the fracture of his leg coupled with malaria led to a life threatening condition. murder mystery lovers may be disappointed, but archeologists are excited to use dna analysis to explore a whole new side of history. >> so a mystery somewhat reso muched and yet deepened at the same time. >> they also found out that his parents were actually siblings, as well, which was more common among the kings in egypt back then. >> which of course can weaken the immune system and give and you number of disorders. interesting stuff. >> and later we'll dig deeper in to this. dr. sanjay gupta joins us to shed more light on what killed

king tut. it could be the biggest battle field of the 21st century. is america ready for a major attack from cyberspace some experts in washington stage a worst case scenario drill to find out. we previewed this for you yesterday. we'll take through to tell you what they found. we're also on the gun trail looking at a fight over a new law in the heart of nra country. is it meant to just make us feel better or will it really keep legal guns out of criminal hands? a look at both sides of the emotional debate. ring ring ring ring

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welcome back. in washington, security experts staged a mock cyber attack on the united states. cell phone service, the internet, both gone. the power grid shut down. trading on wall street ground to a halt. >> designed to be the worst case scenario drill to answer one question. is america ready for a major cyber attack? our homeland security correspondent is live in d.c. with our security watch. >> reporter: the answers were

not comforting. the game was sponsored by the bipartisan policy center and it simulated a massive cyber at u.s. former government leader and business leaders played the part of top officials. there was a fake news channel. the a mario was entirely fictional, but the issues could not be more real. >> up to 20 million and counting of the nation's cell phones have stopped working so far today in what officials claim is the largest communications crisis in the cell phone era. >> reporter: the reason? a cyber attack. as government officials convene, there is one overarching question. >> is this an act of war, not a criminal act? >> reporter: the infected smart phones show a video of the red army raises speculation the russians are behind the attack. meanwhile the crisis expands. >> it's identity theft and online financial fraud having increased dramatically. >> reporter: officials discuss the possibility of shutting down the eneffected smart phones, but

government can't do it. >> i'm actually shocked to hear that we don't have this authority. if this was someone with small pox wandering through the super bowl, we would have the authority to quarantine them. >> reporter: can the military assist, what powers does the president have? >> we are operating in a bet of a bit of unchartered territory as you know. >> reporter: the attack is traced to a server in russia. if the u.s. shut it is it down will the are your shans see it as an act of war? and is russia really behind the attack? then more grim news. the internet is infected, the power grid impacted. >> we are also now receiving alarming reports of significant and growing power outages in major metro poll tap areas in the eastern half of the united states. >> reporter: there is discussion of nationalizing the power grid or mobilizing the national guard to protect it. >> but keep in mind there are over 160,000 miles of transmission lines. you cannot guard every mile of that. >> reporter: and the cyber attack goes on. >> and in corporate board rooms

and i.t. centers across the country, our nation's leaders are wondering if their networks are really secure and if this crisis might indeed spread into their systems. >> reporter: the questions raised by the exercise involve vulnerabilities, roles and responsibilities, legal authorities, private sector corporation, public messaging, political fallout, military retaliation, defensive capabilities. the goal of the exercise was to put these issues on the table for discussion and perhaps resolution before there's a real and massive cyber attack. >> yesterday we had fran townsend on with a little preview of this and she said that the government is woefully unprepared to deal with the cyber attack in the level that they were accept uhe lating yesterday. did the government take away any message from this that we know about? >> reporter: the government did not participate in this exercise. they run their own cyber exercises. they've done a couple. they're called cyber storm. i talked to some administration officials yesterday who said the

people who are participating in this exercise are people who have waep out of government for a year or more. in fact, they claim that progress has been made on these issues since then. but some of the issues transcend government. this is about the private sector, this is about the pufb. no government plan has addressed all of them. >> wow. very eye opening. thanks so much. and her report is just a taste of what happened during this drill. there's a cnn special we were warned, cyber shockwave. you can catch it saturday and sunday night 8:00 p.m. only on cnn. on the year anniversary of the stimulus package, we have tracked your tax dollars. where some paradise basically. one what are your tax dollars doing in the u.s. virgin islandses? jim acosta will tell in about 30 minutes. also, your 1040 exemptions, deductions, it's tax time and we're going to tell you how to avoid a dreaded audit. gerri willis will be here to break it down. she's minding your business after the break.

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gerri willis is here minding your business. and we're talking about getting ready for filing your taxes. >> i hate to bring up this three letter word you ctax, but i hav. the revenue is spending more money on enforcement on taxes. 1.4 medical i don't knillion of last year. so who needs to be worried? well, the self-employed are probably going to be in the crosshairs hthis year. you have to do everything you you can to prove your business is more than just a hobby. you have to have excellent record keeping, maintain a separate banking account. you have to make sure that you're actually making some money in this business and not just taking deductions against that business. that's critical. let's also talk about some red flags here for avoiding audits.

if you have an overseas bank account, and you remember thatter to about the 14,700 folks who came out of the woodwork during the ubs story, they want you to tell them it if that you have overseas bank account because they'll tax on you your interest income. you're only gated to report it. if you have a foreign bank account with deposits of more than $10,000. also if you're selling stocks, this is critical, you have to know what you renlgly purchased that stock at or what it was given to you for. you need to know that number. it can't be something you make up up. you have to get receipts for large donations. charitable giving they look very closely at particularly if you're donating something other than money. one big red flag, if you donate a car, that's allege one of those things that people dispute the value of a car or any other gift like that. also, if you have higher earning, guess what, the more money you make, the more likely are you to be audited. you're 50% more likely to be audited if you earn $200,000 or more. so a lot of people out there who make a lot of money will have to really think about when you're

trying to take travel, entertainment, anything as a deduction out there, you'll have to be very careful this year. there's a very good reason that the federal government is very serious about this. last year was the lowest collections in terms of share of gdp in 55 years. >> a terrible recession sglp . d >> and the tax credits is money that goes the other way. so all of that is reducing the take of the federal government. and they want their money and they'll get it. >> and then there are those people who say if they reign in spending, they wouldn't need so much tax money. all right. gerri willis for us this morning. turning point in the u.s. led war against the taliban. the toll military lead ser captured. we'll talk about the significance of the arrest with two former cia officers. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 (announcer) we believe in giving every investor a lot more for a lot less.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. your top stories five minutes away. first, we have an a.m. original for you. right now there is a major fight going on at the local level over a new law that's intended to keep guns out of criminal hands. critics say it's just another case of legislating against the legal and responsible gun owners. ed lavendera is on the gun trail for us this morning. it's a very emotional issue. >> absolutely. we spemt tnt the last two morni talking about illegal trafficking. want to take this time at a possible solution. so we went to pennsylvania where it has become a very controversial issue. she says not enough is being done to keep illegally

trafficked guns off pennsylvania's streets. this might be the heart of northeastern gun country. >> when they're lost or stolen to the police. >> reporter: but a group called cease fire p.a. has launched a grass roots campaign to get local governments to sign on to what's become a highly controversial law called lost and stolen ordinances. supporters of gun rights hate it. the ordinances require gun owners to report if their weapons have been lost or stolen usually within 24 hours. >> there is very strong support because they have told us that this kind of requirement would give them another investigative tool to help crack down and reduce the numbers of illegal handguns in our streets. >> reporter: she says these laws target the number one source of guns for criminals, people with clean records who buy guns and then supply them to street criminals. so-called straw purchasers. >> the battle is being waged across small towns all over pennsylvania in city council

chambers like this one. >> reporter: duquesne city council was one of the latest to get behind it. so far 25 pennsylvania cities have adopted the ordinance. >> i think that doing this gives us a chance of maybe to reduce violence in the city. >> reporter: that maybe in the mayor's answer is what infuri e infuriates ken and his gun rights activist group called firearms owners against crime. >> to come up with an idea and adopt it based on, well, it might work, is ridiculous. we wouldn't get into an airplane that might fly. the real problem here is that it's not illegal to lose a firearm. it's not illegal to have it stolen. but they want to prosecute you for being in that situation. >> reporter: supporters of the lost and stolen ordinary nance say it's a i behalf keeping a tighter watch on guns that go missing. gun control advocates say imaging like these are playing out too often across pennsylvania, six law enforcement officers were killed

in the line of duty last year hoo alone. this officer was murdered with an ak-47 in this neighbor had outside of pittsburgh. investigators say the suspect was wearing an ankle bracelet, a paro paro parolee on gun charges. >> most of these ordinances that are being passed -- >> reporter: but not everyone thinks it's the answer. penn hills police chief howard burton says lost or stolen is just another feel good law that wouldn't have saved officer michael. >> we're sill dealing with a criminal element. the laws will still be broken. >> reporter: so about a year ago is when this movement started gaining steam there in pennsylvania and as far as we've been able to put together, no one has been prosecuted or convicted of this lost and stolen ordinance, which obviously drives critics crazier. but the supts esupporters say i still early. and police departments are still trying to figure out how to implement this. >> very interesting.

thank you. meanwhile time for a look at our other stop stories. more trouble for toyota morning. the company admits it's looking in to a possible problem with the power steering in the world's best selling car, the corol corolla. the company is considering a recall but has not made a decision so far. a british coroner says alexander mcqueen died of asphyxia and hanging. his body was fund in his london home last week the day before his mother's funeral. his death is not considered suspicious. the coroner says that the fashion designer left behind a suicide note. and a tragic end to that drama on mount st. helens. the body of a climber who fell in was recovered yesterday. joseph bohlig fell 1500 feet on tuesday. he had climbed the volcano 68 times before the accident. low visibility, high wind and snow hampered rescue efforts. an automatic automatpsy is bein

conducted. pakistan confirming the capture of the top taliban military commander who is said to have been nabbed in karachi is the real deal. a man reportedly at the core of taliban operations and training. joining me now to and you can about the significant of this arrest is a former cia officer and senior fellow at the foundation for defense of democracies and a former cia field officer is with us this morning. gary, let's start with you because you tried to take out baradar several years ago in that. >> in 2001, he was commanding the taliban forces and was this our sector. we had a shot at him one night. there were too many civilians in too close and we didn't that that shot thinking we'd get another shot at him. of course the city collapsed and he fled. >> so nine years later, he's in had custody. what are you thinking about this development? >> i think the administration deserves kudos. the agency did a great job in this working with the pakistanis. we've been putting pressure on

them. just a month ago there was pressure put, cnn asked hillary clinton, you know, how come the pakistanis haven't turned over mullah omar. now they've turned over the number two guy, their military commander. very useful. doesn't mean the war will be won, but this guy will have intel on the relationships with all the 24 different pakistani militant organizations with al qaeda, with the drug lords who they're selling their dope to. this should be very, very interesting. >> what are you thinking about what the pakistanis have done here? does this show a new level of cooperation? consensus was that they knew where these guys were. >> yeah, i'm a bit skeptical that it's going to be a turning point. the pakistanis have in the past been very, very he helpful. and then at times they've been less helpful. i think they'll probably keep very firm control over this individual. i suspect the agency will not have full access to the

debriefings. and i would be surprised if the really juicy material about pakistani taliban ties since 9/11, any of that information would be turned over to the agency. >> and in terms of these debriefings, the cia we understand may have some sort of observatory role in this, though not full access. what would be the protocol for handling this fellow? because we're getting some reports from taliban inside afghanistan that they're watching very closely as to you how baradar is being handled. and if he's treated well, they may be inclined to cooperation, but if he's not treated well, it will be stat it tuesday company. >> our relationship with pakistan has been one that has been up and down over the years. there have been times where they've provided not just complete access, but turned the people over to us completely. i.e. the attacks in east africa, they captured key individuals and just gave gave them to us. there is a political dynamic with the taliban which is defendant because pakistan created the taliban. and they don't want us to know

all of the specific secrets of that particular relationship. >> so how do you think they're treating him? >> i don't know. and that's something quite frankly that richard holbrooke will be quite intimately involved in. this is a big deal, this capture. he's correct in saying that there may be limitations on this, but i suspect pakistan recognizes that their economic future lies with us, they made this decision which way they're going to go. the fact is it's the ttp killed the current president of pakistan eye wife. so we may have more access than people think. >> and in terms of baradar's value, do you think he's more valuable in trying to uncover some sort of actionable intelligence, or perhaps in influencing over maybe mid or upper level members of the taliban structure to come to the negotiating table? if he's not there, do they say, oh, well, let's try to get the best deal we can while we can get it shall good i suspect you could get a little of both.

if he's fully cooperative, the amount of information he has is no doubt substantial. i suspect the main influence on the taliban on those who member willing to negotiate with the americans and the government of president karzai would be if they believe the americans are there not long haul, if the americans continue to be quite aggressive, i think that is much more likely to have an impact than anything mr. baradar might send out vie at pakistanis. sometimes senior members of militant organizations when they're capture the give us everything. the head of the pkk when he was captured by the turks followed like a cheap deck chair, cried like a baby, gave them everything. they dismembered that organization. did significant damage to it.

frequently low level members when they're captured will resist more fervently than senior guys. this will be interesting to see where this goes. >> and if you were a betting man, would you say that the taliban just easily replaces baradar or is this a real blow to them that he is gone now? what's your read? >> i think it's a real blow. it's very difficult to replace someone with his level of experience quickly. you really have to rise through the ranks. you have to have the ups and the downs. so i suspect that this gentlema taliban movement. probably not a lethal loss, but it will certainly cause them pain in the short term. >> all right, as always, between to see you. thanks for joining us. still ahead, stimulus dollar, millions of them, going to the virgin islands. should money that's only created over 100 jobs be going to what some say is paradise some jim

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. it is 40 past the hour. and today is the one year anniversary of the $787 billion still husband bill that is now up to $862 billion. >> more than $130 million of that money is leaving the country. where is it headed? three tiny islands in the caribbean. the u.s. virgin islands. jim acosta travelled to this tropical paradise as part of our ongoing effort to uncover with your stimulus dollars are going. jim joins us from washington with an a.m. original. i'd like an assignment like that. >> reporter: i was just telling our folks here in washington, makes up for a lot of those assignments where you stay in hotels that people typically rent by the hour. but i'll go no further on that. the stimulus is now one year old and you can find stimulus money in all 50 states, but did you know taxpayer dollars are also

going to stimulus programs in u.s. territory sms at that time u.s. virgin islands. while we were in saent thomas on a different assignment, we saw those green and orange stimulus signs an started doing some digging of our own. nicknamed america's paradise, the u.s. virgin islands are riding a wave of federal tax dollars these days. the three islands that make up this tiny u.s. territory are slated to receive more than $130 million in stimulus money. the territory's governor says the islands are entitled to the funds. >> we've been part of the united states since 1917. so had this really does help us to a large extent. >> reporter: you're americans. >> we're americans. >> reporter: these two boys are looking forward to the new stimulus funded sigh walk that will be built outside their high school in st. thomas. the school got a visit from president obama during the '08 campaign. >> it will be safer for the

children walking hole up the hill. >> reporter: and tv ads in the islands urge residents to apply for $8 million in energy department grants to buy stimulus funded solar hot water heaters. the territory's leaders say the stimulus is creating jobs. >> they're manufacturing solar hot water heaters in the territory which is something we've never done in the past. >> reporter: but the government stimulus website shows of the $19 million received by the virgin islands so far, 152 jobs have been created. about $127,000 per job. >> what the stimulus has done is it has alerted the american people to how government works in general because the money went into existing programs, people are beginning to understand how many of them simply don't work that efficiently. >> reporter: even in paradise, there's a debate over how the stimulus is being spent. last year the territory's legislature passed a bill requiring the governor to it is close exactly where the dollars are going. the governor vetoed the

legislation. so the territory's legislature overrode that veto last june. still six months later during our visit in january, the governor had not produced one stimulus report. >> he's not complying with the local law in regards to submitting a report 37. >> my veto was not intended not to share the information. >> reporter: what would you say to folks who wonder about a quarter of a million dollars going to paradise? >> it really does help us to be able to accommodate over 2 million americans that we get every year in terms of tourists. >> reporter: the stimulus has reached these islands. the critics say the program is still lost at sea. we should note after we turned our cameras off, one senator told us our visit did prompt the governor to issue that report. and in case you were wondering, the virgin islands are no where

near the biggest stimulus recipient. puerto rico will get over $2 billion in stimulus money. that's more than nearly 20 states. >> that's a lot of money. >> a lot of money. >> as understand, they're americans, i guess they're entitled to it, right? >> they are americans and they will point that out to you if you bring it up. they feel they're entitled to this money just like any other state in the country. >> jim acosta for us this morning. thanks. rob will have this morning's travel forecast coming up after the break. >> and also this will be fascinating, dr. sanjay gupta with the mystery surrounding the death of king tut.

good morning, dallas, where it's clear and # 1 degrees. later on it will be going up to a high of 54. looks like a beautiful day and great weather to let those country boys roll. i know the guy who wrote that song. played golf with him last year. >> it's a great song. everybody has it on the ipod

now. >> rob is tracking the weather for us. and what -- you're waving at us. >> you play golf with billy currington in. >> no, the guy who wrote the song for billy. >> well, close enough. you have to go to southern texas, arizona, those are the spots. other than that, it will be cold just about everywhere else. no big storms in the forecast until further notice. that's the only good news. we did see 11 inches of snow in meridan. troy, new york, seeing nine inches from this guy that's heading on of to sea and now we've got this strong northwest flow. so we're seeing some lake-effect snow showers. this is the time of year where lake-effect snows aren't quite as intense as they would be say in december or january because the lakes start to get colder and in some cases freeze over. lake erie, as a matter of fact,

getting reports of it freezing completely over and hasn't done that in some 14 clears. so you notice we're not getting tunnel lake-effect snow off of erie because of that. we're getting some off of ontario because. lift associated with that instability and that low. boston new york metros, wind delays for travel. slaen atlanta, charlotte, same deal. 33 in chicago. 45 in memphis. 45 in atlanta. so very much below average. that continues to be the trend as cold air continues to pour down from canada. so lake-effect snow, yes, but the chilly south will continue. we'll probably see a reprieve later in the week with a little system that will come through and warm things up briefly. but it looks like the long term pattern getting back into next week will be more in the way of cold air. probably right on through the month of february. so spring will be here soon. but not yet. >> and that's how rob rolls.

thanks. 50 past the hour. this morning's top stories just minutes away including 20 minutes after the hour, anderson keeper heading uptown where one man is investing in harlem and hoping to bring back jobs. and at 25 after the hour, we're on the gun gun trail. a gras roots effort to track guns that go missing before they turn up at a crime scene. could legal owners pay? at 50 minutes after the hour we're "paging dr. gupta" with a very promising new study about aspirin and possibly being able to save breast cancer patients. much more on that coming up as well.

sometimes it all just kind of comes together. doesn't it? >> that's the bangles. where did they go? with songs like this? man! >> they could be playing steve martin's "king tut." it is an ancient egyptian mystery more hand 3,000 years old. this morning the mystery is solved. scientists now believe they know what killed king tut. our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta joins us from atlanta to weigh in. playing egyptologist, archeologist this morning. so what led to the boy king's demise? >> well, the right answer still is we're not 100% sure -- >> oh, come on! >> i know, i know. it was a long time ago, john.

there's been a lot of speculation throughout really time, people thought maybe he had been murdered. there was a hole in his skull. we know that was from the mummification process. there was a thought maybe he had female genetic traits but they've actually analyzed his dna now and find that's not true as well. what they are willing to say, based on doing pretty sophisticated dna analysis -- again, remember, we're talking about 3,000 years ago here -- dna analysis and also doing cat scans of the various bones that can construct together what likely happened to him. first of all they believe king tut was actually inbred, his father and mother were actually related and that led to a whole host of genetic deformities he probably lived with for his 19 years of life. they also believe that he had sigma layer ya that may have even infected his brain. that's because they found the dna of the pathogen that causes malaria as well. he also had a fracture in his leg. they think these three things in combination probably led to his death.

but again this is fascinating stuff. let me show you how good the quality of the images are here. you think 3,000 years ago, what can they really tell? well, look. this is actually reconstructions of his feet. i don't know if you can tell here, but where the yellow is marked you see two things going on. first there is an extra joint. maybe a result of the inbreeding. but also he's starting to develop some necrosis or erosion of the bone there. that's an infection that can be quite painful and may also account for why he was always sitting down when you saw him in a lot of photographs. that's what they really think probably was going on here overall with king tut. again, it's hard to say for sure, but take a look at the quality of that stuff, john. >> it's pretty amazing. so all of this is very curious. it's intriguing. but is there any real value from learning about this? >> you know, i think there is. in fact, i've done a lot of stories on malaria over the years trying to trace the origins of malaria. there's been a lot of thought that perhaps malaria started

because there was a jump between animals and humans several hundred years ago. we didn't know exactly when malaria started, or how it changed over the years. but 3,000 years ago they can find dna evidence of malaria. that's a game-changer. if you can start to find other clues throughout history as to how this particular pathogen evolves, it can give you an idea of how other pathogens might evolve as well. it is something we talk about all the time with regard to avian flu, h1n1, what's the natural history of those. >> doc, you're coming up with malaria dna from 3,000 years ago. what's next? they going to start recreating dinosaurs? >> right. you never know! but to be able to put that together. look, how is it so different now? what is the natural history, that's pretty interesting. >> dr. sanjay gupta for us this morning, good to see you. thanks. >> it is really amazing though. to be able to see those x-rays. >> one step away from jurassic

park. >> maybe we are. i know we are once step away from our top stories in 90 seconds. back in a minute.

good wednesday morning to you. thanks for being with us on the most news in the morning. it is the 17th of february. i'm john roberts. >> i'm kiran chetry. u.s. marines under constant attack in a major afghan offensive. they're getting some help, while at the same time accomplishing a

huge objective. we'll take to you afghanistan for an exclusive report. the u.s. set to break ground on its first nuclear reactioners in 30 years. president obama making billions of dollars available to build them, but others are asking, what about nuclear waste? we're digging deeper on this politically charged debate it morning. on the trail of guns that go missing. a new law is aiming to find them before they turn up at a crime scene but critics say it is actually going after the wrong people. >> to come up with an idea and adopt it based on "it might work" is ridiculous. we wouldn't get into an airplane that might fly. there is an awful lot of laws relating to firearms. the real problem here is that it's not illegal to lose a firearm. >> ed lavendera looks at grassroots efforts at gun control an the uphill battle in gun country. also this morning in afghanistan, help for american and allied troops fighting the biggest battle since 2001. u.s. marines moving in by land have now joined up with the marines who came in by

helicopter earlier. marines have also taken control of the police headquarters. that was one of the main objectives for the forces fighting in the taliban stro stronghold of marjah. later today, president obama will meet with his national security team in the white house situation room to monitor the new u.s.-led offensive in afghanistan. >> reporter: roaming the empty streets of marjah. the u.s. marines from unit 16's alpha company keep a watchful eye over the city from a bazaar. some believe the taliban are just hiding waiting for the opportunity to launch attacks. marines say for the taliban, time is running out. >> once people are on our side, they no longer have a place to hide. it will just be us with the local nationals and all the afghans trying to join together to make a team.

>> reporter: right now, very few locals are coming out to join that team. some flood marjah before the offensive. others are staying indoors. the city of marjah still looks like a ghost town on day four of the operation. the civilians are still encouraged to stay inside their home and so far it's been a fairly quiet day when it comes to fighting compared to the last few days. but it is suspected the taliban are biding their time, assessing the movement of the marines and it is expected that they will launch some sort of attack hoping to disable the progress of the u.s. troops. a morning lull ended with more sporadic and intense fighting. at one point, a 15-minute engagement with incoming fire from several parts of the city. commanding general says the job's not done yet. >> we're moving in the right direction. like i say, there's a lot of heavy lifting to doing and there are a lot of surprises ahead we

have not even anticipated, i'm sure. there's nobody dancing in the end zone right now, i can tell you that. but i like where we're at. >> reporter: and so do some afghans. the taliban never helped us, this man says. "they won't, and they can't, help us. instead, they take from us." and double mukim's property was damaged by the initial military push. he has been promised compensation and he's glad the americans are here. he remembers u.s. aid building the ka nacanals years ago that d this area into rich cultural land. i'm glad the americans came back, he says. they built these places in helmand, but then they left us. they left us when we were being demolished by the soviets. today abdul mukim prays that the battle for marjah will bring a great change in his life and a better future for afghanistan. this time, he says, he wants america to stay. but first, the u.s. marines have to drive away others who don't

want america to stay and have not yet given up the fight in marjah. atia abawi, cnn, marjah, afghanistan. more possible trouble for toyota this morning as the u.s. government tightens the screws. the company held another news conference in tokyo overnight announcing it is investigating a possible problem with the corolla's power steering and a recall is not out of the question. this comes at the top of 8 1/2 million cars that have been recalled already. toyota's president says the company will cooperate with washington but he will not be coming to the united states to answer any questions himself. now to the president's plan to build the first nuclear reactors in a generation. he announced more than $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to help pay for the construction. but are americans ready to embrace nuclear power again? cnn's brian todd tells us, there is a debate heating up over where to store all that nuclear waste. >> reporter: some 70,000 metric

tons of nuclear waste stored in so-called casks of steel, concrete and lead, and more than 100 commercial nuclear power plants in the u.s. and other locations. 2,000 tons added to the pile every year. u.s. officials say the spent fuel can be safely stored in these containers for 90 years, but that is storage, not disposal. and it's the disposal problem that has some in the industry worried. >> if the nuclear fuel is safe at the sites where it is stored now, and if it can be safe almost indefinitely, why do you need a knew career repository? >> you ultimately need a nuclear repository because, just like all wastes in a society, we have to put them someplace. we deal with biological waste. we deal with chemical waste. we deal with trash, every day trash. >> reporter: jack edlow runs a company that transports nuclear material. he's against president obama's decision to cut funding for the yucca mountain project in mov nevada. it was supposed to be the

nation's underground story for the waste. mark sanford accuses mr. obama of what he calls a chicago-style political payoff to democratic senate majority leader harry reid. reid's from nevada where yucca mountain is located and is he in a tough re-election battle. >> it is the obama administration's choice in this instance, based on an election outcome that they might fear in nevada to make this decision. >> sanford has political motivati motivation, too. his state ranks third in the country in the amount of nuclear waste stored. an obama administration official emphatically denied this is political saying the president's always been against yucca mountain. the white house official says there have been mounting cost overruns for prot ject and serious concerns about its scientific viability and the security of transporting nuclear fuel to yucca mountain from all the commercial knew career power plants across the country. an aid to senator reid also denied political motivations. he cites reid's own concerns about costs and security for

yucca mountain. >> leave it on site, where it is. you don't have to worry about transporting. it saves the country billions and billions of dollars. >> reporter: in place of yucca mountain, the president's appointed a blue-ribbon panel to study alternatives. the nuclear energy institute, a lobbying group for the industry, is against the decision to cut the yucca mountain project but does support the president's new panel. >> there are significant developments over the last several decades that can be taken into consideration. france has gone forward with recycling their spent nuclear fuel. they're having a lot of success with that program. >> but one energy industry executive points out the united states has other types of nuclear fuel that can't be so easily recycled from places like naval facilities where they process fuel for nuclear powered ships and submarines. >> brian todd reporting for thus morning. later on this hour at 8:30 eastern, christine todd-whitman, co-chair of the clean and safe energy coalition and environmental activist robert f. kennedy jr. will be here to debate the nuclear power controversy. new this morning, republicans are playing nice with the conservative tea party.

gop starm michael steele spending nearly four hours behind closed doors yesterday trying to calm the fears of tea party activists who are worried the republican party is tout co-op their grassroots movement in time for the 2010 mid-term elections. it was congenial. everybody wanted to figure out what kind of assets he could bring to the game. i wanted to return to commerce charity and their individual rights and responsibilities and if his agenda or the people that he backs don't support that, i find that i'll put my energies like they will in an area where i think it will achieve the most good. >> republican chairman steele says the two groups do share a common goal and that is stopping president obama's agenda. talk has been around about a possible 2012 run for the presidency from former alaska governor sarah palin. when the talk turned to a possibility of a president palin, america's top diplomat remained -- shall we say -- very

diplomat. secretary of state hillary clinton was asked that question by a student during a town hall meeting in saudi arabia. >> does the prospect of sarah palin one day becoming president maybe terrify you? and if so, would you consider immigrating to canada or possible even russia in the event of this happening? >> well, the short answer is, no, i will not be immigrating. i will be visiting as often as i can. >> so she didn't answer the first part of the question. during her trip clinton was very vocal about washington's opposition to iran's nuclear program. she also spoke at the u.s. islamic world forum if qatar. >> she's very busy. you never know what questions are going to come her way. >> at least she got a good laugh. sadie, the scottish terrier

certainly lived up to the hype. 4-year-old fan favorite winning best in show last night at the westminster dog show. she's no stranger to the winner's circle. she's won 112 best in show honors. last night's show was briefly interrupted, by the way, by two protesters from peta. there you see women running to the floor holding up a sign that says mutts rule. other says breeders kill shelter dogs chanced. they were escorted out and the show went on but they got their point out there. rob marcia that is here with a quick look at the weather across the country. >> nothing wrong with a mutt from the pound, that's for sure. if you're out walking your dog today across the eastern half of the country really, bundle up yourself and maybe your pooch as well. snow showers expected across parts of the great lakes. radar scope shows a little flow around the back side of this low that brought all the heavy snow to the northeast. and in some cases got a foot or more. it was a boon for some ski resorts across northern new england. that's good news. light lake effect snow showers

from buffalo to syracuse, the usual spots. 27 though, that's a little unusual in atlanta. current temperature. 28 in mobile. 33 the big easy where they're sweeping the streets of bourbon down there in new orleans after mardi gras. it is 40 days, 40 nights of repenting. giving stuff up. that is if you report to the vatican. we'll talk more about weather in about 30 minutes. john and kiran? back up to you. talk about a room with a view. early this morning, astronauts on-board the international space station opened the seven-window observation deck in the newly added lab tranquility. they are calling the views of earth 220 miles below absolutely spectacular. it's pretty easy to see why. >> amazing pictures. the stimulus plan, is it progress or is it failure? we'll be talking more about that with dnc chairman tim kaine. he joins us to talk about it one year later. is it everything they hoped it would be? it is 11 minutes after the hour.

14 minutes after the hour. this morning in building up america, a new renaissance in harlem. >> a restaurant that's a throw-back to before the great depression is helping many new yorkers through the great recession. anderson cooper goes uptown for us this morning. >> reporter: harlem. long the epicenter of african-american culture has seen its share of hard times. central harlem is one of the poorest neighborhoods in new york city, and during this recession it owns the city's highest unemployment rate. more than one-third of the people now live in poverty. joe holland is determined to change that. so why did you come to harlem? you didn't grow up here. you went to harvard business school and probably could have had a lot of different opportunities. why did you come to harlem? >> it was out of a sense of wanting to give back to my community. i believe in the biblical

mandate, to whom much is given, much is required. i saw harlem as a place where i could make a difference. >> reporter: joe and his business partners, his sister and brother-in-law, own and operate gospel uptown, a soul food restaurant with a twist. what was the vision? you wanted more than just a restaurant. >> yes. yes. we see it as a live music/fine dining destination, a throwback to the harlem renaissance where you had the great places, small paradise, nightclubs. >> reporter: joe was close to realizing his dream. investors were lined up. then the economic crisis hit. >> because we had qualified a number of people, ready to go in the fall of 2008. we went forward and signed the lease. and then the economy went crazy and the portfolio started to shrink and everybody backed off. >> reporter: joe didn't give up and eventually secured a federally backed small business loan. he now employs more than 50 people. >> this kitchen and wait staff,

bar staff, hostesses, then we're an entertainment destination so we have a production staff. we have a sound engineer, light engineer. >> reporter: joe hosts several bands and individual artists at his restaurant showcasing home-grown harlem talent. it has to feel good to be in this community and say i'm able to employ 50 people. >> yes. and that's really the key. because i've been in this community for almost 30 years as a lawyer first, and then a minister and entrepreneur, government official. what i've learned is that the best thing that you can do for the community is to build the economic base and create jobs. >> reporter: business is picking up each month, he says. holland wants to expand his restaurant to communities like harlem around the country. until then, he's happy to personally impact those he's employed and help rebuild the community he's grown to call home. anderson cooper, cnn, new york. coming up next on the most news in the morning -- virginia governor tim kaine ahead of the

dnc -- former virginia governor tim kaine will be talking to us about the party's chances in november. there he is. we'll be with him in a second. 17 minutes after the hour. ♪ i love winter. with my subaru forester and its all wheel drive, handling even the toughest conditions

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. 20 minutes past the hour right

now. today is the one-year anniversary of president obama's signing the stimulus bill into law. the white house believes the stimulus has met its first year goals bringing the economy back from the brink and putting some people back to work. but can they convince a skeptical public ahead of crucial mid-term elections? joining us this morning from richmond, virginia, tim kaine, the former virginia governor and also now the chairman of the democratic national committee. i want to ask you about this. it seems like people are still skeptical about what good the stimulus has done over the part year. our most recent cnn poll 63% of people asked think that the stimulus bill went to political projects with no economic impact. what do you say to americans who feel that this $862 billion was basically wasted? >> well, what i can say is, look, there is a great article front page in the business section of the "new york times" today that says the stimulus has done pretty much exactly what it was intended to do, which was get the economy growing again. there is a reason that the gdp is now increased for two

quarters in a row after being in the tank. there's a reason that even the principle economist of senator john mccain is saying the recession is ending because the stimulus is working. listen to our most significant critics. they are often republican members. congress and governors who voted against the stimulus saying it was a bad idea but they're lining up for stimulus dollars. in letters to federal agencies and others they are saying we need these dollars for project "x" or "y" because it will help the economy and help grow jobs in our community. so every day there is a new story. the president rolled out investments in alternative energy, nuclear technology yesterday, i think people will start to see in every corner of this country that the economy has been pulled back from the brink largely because of this package. is there why do you think that nearly a third of people are

actual -- actually only a third of people according to our polling think that the stimulus money is actually benefiting the economy? why is that disconnect then if you think it is working so well? >> the reason there is a disconnect is that people are still hurting. let's be honest. we are in the toughest economy since the 1930s. when the president came in to office, he was in the greatest recession since the 1930s, and every community in this country is feeling it. we were losing 720,000 jobs a month one year ago. now we've gotten those job losses down to about net even. but until we start to significantly grow jobs again, people are still going to be hurting and still going to be concerned. the good news is if you look at that data, gdp growth, the change in the job loss statistics, increase in manufacturing activity, you could look at all those things and see an economy that's now starting to move ahead. as that happens, jobs will come along with it. >> i want to switch topics and ask you about democrats getting the bombshell news this week that senator evan bayh of indiana will not seek re-election.

he was on the program yesterday. he said one of the reasons was that he felt he could actually be more effective in the private sector. he had not so many kind things to say about the way things were working in washington. how big a blow is that to democrats with such an ambitious public agenda? >> well, we don't want to lose anybody. obviously a public servant like evan bayh with more than 20 years of experience in elected office, that is a tough loss. but we're going to have a marquee candidate in indiana. there isn't any reason for democrats to walk around with sad faces. we've got 59 senators, which is the most democrats in the senate since 1979, and we have a huge margin in the house, we have an edge among governors. is it a tough climate? sure. any climate when the economy is tough is going to be difficult, it will be volatile candidates and volatile campaigns. mid-terms for presidents are traditionally hard. but this president is excelling at doing the tough things in a hard time, getting the economy growing again and restoring america's position in the world.

he's doing both of them to a great degree. we'll miss senator bayh but we'll go after the indiana race and we're going to compete everywhere. >> he's known as a centrist. he's in a crucial swing state. there are some political analysts who say it is basically sort of what we're seeing now in washington, there is not room for centrists, this ultra partisan environment makes that difficult. what do you say to people who wonder if the moderates are being pushed aside, is there not room for those voices in washington? >> if you look at the democrats in the senate, there are still plenty of people who carry that proud centrist banner. mark warner, the junior senator from virginia who is a great friend, jim webb, the senior senator from virginia, i think they into that category and believe they have a meaning it will role to play. if there is a party where centrists are not really welcome, it is really the other side. arlen specter was chased from the republican party into the democratic camp this year because he was perceived as too moderate, too willing to work with the other side. we've seen the same thing in congressional races and in

primaries that are happening. john mccain is being primaried from the right side in arizona because of the perception he is too much of a centrist. our party welcomes the centrist. >> if the net effect of that ultra partisanship, whether it is on the left or right, is that nothing gets done, how is that helping the american people? >> well, kiran, i'm going to challenge you on that. i think you know what i'm going to say. the "nothing gets done" line is just false. >> on the major push for health care reform we didn't see that happen. >> okay. but look, let me tick it off. the biggest economic recovery act bill in the history of this country that is working. equal pay for women. something that has been dreamed about for generations. it's been passed and signed under this president. 4 million more american children have health insurance, low-income kids have health insurance because of this congress and this president. this congress is doing a lot of heavy lifting on issues to get the american economy growing again. is everything working exactly the way that i would wish? absolutely not. on health care, we've got to get

that done and it has been slow and it has been tough. but seven presidents have tried this before president obama and not even been able to get a single bill passed by -- do you think that bayh is wrong by saying that nothing was getting done, it was basically gridlock? >> oh, yeah. i would say he is completely wrong. he was right in analyzing that there's too much partisanship. look, when you have another side who's voting no on everything, that's frustrating. he pointed out, for example, that the deficit commission, seven republican senators, sponsors of the nonpartisan commission bill switched and voted against it because once president obama was for it they were going to vote no. that is frustrating. but it is not the same as nothing's getting done. we've pulled this economy back from the brink under strong presidential leadership and we're going to continue to climb. >> well, it was great to talk to you this morning, get your point of view. tim kaine, dnc chairman, thanks for being with us. renaissance of nuclear power going on in this country with president obama giving $8.3 billion in loan guarantees to a company in georgia.

but is it the best way to provide for our future energy needs? christine todd whitman and robert kennedy jr. debate nuclear power coming right up. 27 minutes after the hour.

coming up on the half-hour now. that means it is time for this morning's top stories. the biggest battle of the war in afghanistan now in its fifth day. military officials say taliban resistance is growing more disorganized as they push deeper into marjah. afghan officials say the taliban fighters are now using women and children as human shields. a new revealing study about mysteries relating to ancient egypt, specifically king tut, the boy pharaoh. dna testing shows he was frail. he actually suffered from malaria and had several other genetic diseases. one of the reasons was family inbreeding. researchers say that they believe the diseases and a broken leg likely contributed to

his death. they say that his parents were also siblings. toyota saying a corolla recall could come next. the company admitting that it's looking into a possible problem with the power steering mechanism in the world's best selling car. toyota's president also saying he will skip a congressional hearing in washington. some experts saying that that could be a critical mistake. >> it's a concern to me that the toyota management still thinks it's an option whether or not the president testifies in the congress. this is something he has to do. he can't just say "i'm too busy" or he can't send somebody else. this is toyota's biggest crisis it's faced in its history. he has to be seen to be out front. >> toyota did announce that it's putting together a new global quality task force with a new quality control officer who will be in charge of the united states market. president obama is trying to breathe new life into the

dormant u.s. nuclear power industry. he unveiled his multi-billion dollar plan yesterday. >> we are announcing roughly $8 billion in loan guarantees to break ground on the first new new clear plant in our country if three decades. the first new nuclear power plant in nearly three decades. >> not everyone is applauding the announcement. here to talk about this this morning from delargo, florida, chris teeb todd whitman, co-chair of the clean and safe energy coalition, also a former epa chief and former governor of new jersey. here in the studio in new york, robert kennedy jr., an environmental activist with river keeper an the water keeper alliance. great to see you both. christine, start with you if we could. as the president said, first new power plants -- or first new nuclear reactors to be built since the 1970s. why, to you, is it a good idea for this company to get back in the nuclear game? >> well, today nuclear provides

20% of ow pourer but more than 70% of our clean power. it is an important part of the puzzle. unfortunately, we in this country like to think give us one answer and it will solve everything. it is not going to. we need all sorts of clean energy. we need conservation. but nuclear is an important part of the clean base energy, and that's really the key. we are looking at a 23% increase in demand for electricity by 2030. that's 20 years from now. today renewables, wind, solar, those types of renewables are maybe 7%, 9% if you really stretch it, of our power. to try to get them to the point where they could be based -- because they're not, they only work as peak shaving when the wind's blowing or the sun's shining -- we'll get there some day but not in that time period. do we want more coal? do we want to import more oil and gas? i think this is one way that should be part of our going forward in the future. >> robert, you agree or disagree? >> no. i'm for nuke if they can ever

make it safe. if they can make it economical, it is the most catastrophically expensive way of boiling a poft water that's ever been devised. it is much more expensive than wind, solar, gas, any of the other alternatives. there is not a single utility in this country, there is not a single bank that will finance a nuclear power plant. 100% of the construction costs have to come from the federal government and then we have those up-front subsidy costs, and then at the back end we have to store the waste for 30,000 years which is five times the length for recorded human history. there's no way this could compete against any other form of energy. plus, what christine just said that we can bring on wind and solar and natural gas much faster. it takes two to three years for a wind plant, a gas plant or solar plant to come online. it takes 15 to 20 years for a nuke plant. there's never been been brought in on time.

there's never been one brought in on budget. in fact, the big one that they're building right now, the first one that they're building in europe in finland is now three years behind schedule, 77% over budget. we could heat this country on prime rib and power it on prime rib. but why would we do it? there is no more -- >> wait a minute,ky just -- >> jump in here. >> let me just clear up a couple of facts here. first of all, yes, nuclear -- does it take a while to bring online? yes, it can take up to eight years. eight to ten years at the most. but even bobby kennedy has to acknowledge that wind power isn't always a smooth sail. witnessed what's happened up off the shore there in massachusetts. >> nantucket sound. >> there are problems. it's not an either/or though. to have the a same amount of power you get from an average nuclear reactor takes over two -- well, we've seen plants,

over 200,000 acres. it doesn't mean you don't do it, but let's understand that there are costs on every side. a wind facility brought online is between $10 billion and $12 billion. nuclear to produce the same amount of power is $6 billion to $8 billion. they're all expensive. we've got to understand that. it is not an either/or. on o per kilowatt basis, what's it's online, nuclear is the least expensive. just under 2 cents a kilowatt hour where you've got nuclear -- wind power that's 6 cents, solar that's 20 cents. we've got a real problem today. >> on the cost issue, the brookings institute says nuke is twice as expensive as the next most expensive form of power. the only way that they can build this is with huge subsidies. this is corporate welfare. i want to get to the safety

issue. christine is working for the nuclear power industry has said nuclear's now safe. what i say to that is, if you're safe, get an insurance policy just like every other industry in this country. they cannot get insurance. and in our country, the ultimate arbiter, this isn't a bunch of hippies in tie-dyed t-shirts. we're saying it's too risky. it is people from black ties in aig who are saying you are too risky to insure us. the industry had to go to congress in a sleazy legislative maneuvering in the middle of the night and get the act passed which shifts all the liability from accidents at a nuclear power plant to the american public. what other industry in the world has that? >> the industry self-insures. it's been providing power for 30 years now. but look at france. 85% nuclear power. we need to make them as safe as we can and that's what the nuclear regulatory commission is doing. >> the indian point nuclear

power plant is leaking into the groundwater. a dozen other plants -- >> nobody wants that to happen but it's well below what's going to be a threat to human health. >> -- if you want it in your water, add it yourself at home. don't put it in bobby, wait a m. i sit in a place where i look at a nuclear reactor right across from our house. they are talking about putting two more in. i'm all for it. i don't sit across a place where they talk about wind farms and say, no, not in my view. >> bobby, the president yesterday said construction of these two nuclear reactors will reduce carbon emissions by 16 million tons a year compared to coal. that's like taking 3 1/2 million cars off the streets. does it not suggest in your mine at least from the president's position that nuclear could be a part of the strategy, not the whole strategy, part of it? >> no. you know, at some point if we make it safe, if we make it

economic. we right now can build wind farms. i'm on the board of a company building a solar nuclear plant bigger than any nuke plant in this country. building it for $3 million a gig watt. that's about a third the price that you can build one of these and it is still expensive compared to wind, compared to biomass, compared to geothermal which are a tiny fraction. we can get them online right away. what i say is, let's have free market capitalism in this country. let's not have socialism for these big corporations who are getti getting $154 billion they are planning to give to an industry that's the least economical industry that we've ever had in this country. there's no banker that would build one of these. or finance one. there's no utility that would finance them. 100% of the construction costs have to be funded by you and me, the federal taxpayer, and then we have to pay to have this stuff disposed of.

>> that is absolutely untrue, bobby! come on, let's at least talk about this from a factual basis. you know those loan guarantees, the company has money in it and have you other loans that they're getting from outside this country. >> sew me one example. >> not the taxpayer. not the taxpayer. we're talking about the new nuclear that the president talked about. first of all, those are loan guarantees that the company hopes never have to take down. they're getting outside loans from outside this country and the country is putting some skin in the game. so to stay they're 100% paid for by the taxpayers is simply untrue. i mean these are all expensive options. i defy to you say what are we going to do to meet our energy needs and to do it in a clean way? >> and we didn't talk about nuclear proliferation. >> we didn't talk about korea. >> i have to jump in here and at least sound a two-minute warning but probably call time. yes, we didn't get to proliferation. we also didn't get to nuclear

waste even but obviously a sign that this is a very emotional debate. we thank you both for being with us this morning. really appreciate it. >> my pleasure. >> good to see you, christie. from one vigorous debate to another, the gun trail. battling over laws to keep illegally trafficked guns out of criminal hands. both sides of this emotional debate as well. 40 minutes past the hour.

it is now 43 minutes past the hour. it means it is time for an "a.m. original." right now there is a major fight going on at the local level over a new law intended to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. >> critics say it is another way to legislate against legal and responsible gun owners. ed lavendera joins us live on the gun trail this morning. >> reporter: we spent a lot of time this week talking about how guns are illegally trafficked in the united states. we thought we'd look at a possible solution. but it turns out we went to pennsylvania and a solution that's been floating around there for the past year is quite controversial. >> i get tired of hearing people complain. >> reporter: jana says not enough is done to keep illegally trafficked guns off pennsylvania's streets. this might be the heart of

northeastern gun country. >> -- report their handguns when they're lost or stolen to the police. >> reporter: but she along with another group called cease-fire p.a. has launched a grassroots campaign to get local governments to sign on to what's become a highly controversial law called lost and stolen ordinances. supporters of gun rights hate it. the ordinances require gun owners to report if their weapons have been lost or stolen usually within 24 hours. is there there is very strong support for this because they've told us this kind of requirement would give officers another investigators tool to crack down and reduce the number of illegal handguns on our streets. >> reporter: she says these laws target the number one source of guns for criminals, people with clean records who buy guns, then supply them to street criminals, so-called straw purchasers. the battle over this ordinance is being waged in small towns all across america and in city council chambers like this one here in duquesne.

this city council was one of the latest to get behind it. so far 25 pennsylvania cities have adopted the ordinance. >> i think doing this gives us a chance maybe to reduce violence in the city. >> reporter: that "maybe" in the mayor's answer is what infuriates this man and his gun rates activist called firearms owners against crime. >> to come up with an idea and adopt it based on "it might work" is ridiculous. we wouldn't get into an airplane that might fly. there is an awful lot of laws relating to firearms. real problem is it is not illegal to lose a firearm. it is not illegal to have it stolen. but they want to prosecute you for being in that situation. >> reporter: supporters of the lost and stolen ordinance say it is a way of keeping a tighter watch on guns that go missing. gun control advocates say images like these are playing out too often across pennsylvania. six law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty last year alone. this funeral honored officer michael crawshaw murdered with

an ak-47 in this neighborhood outside of pittsburgh. investigators say the suspect was wearing an ankle bracelet, a parolee on drug and gun charges. so far, more than 100 police departments have come out in support of the lost and stolen ordinances. >> most of these ordinances are being passed -- >> reporter: but not everyone in law enforcement thinks it is the answer. penn hill's police chief john burton says lost or stolen is just another feel-good law that wouldn't have saved officer michael crawshaw. >> still have to realize we're dealing with a criminal element. no matter how many laws are out there, they're still going to be broken. >> another source of frustration for these critics, no one has been arrested or prosecuted for violating the ordinance. supporters say it is still early. some of the ordinances they say have been tied up in legal fights and that other police departments are still trying to figure out the best way of putting it into daily practice. so before we go though, john and kiran, want to take a look at some of the comments that people have had about this gun trail

series we've done starting on monday. i was kind of struck, i want to go back to the piece we did on monday about the atf investigation in houston where people -- that ring that was smuggling guns into mexico. i was kind of struck on the blog by the amount of people who actually didn't buy the story. one of the viewers said, "this is a ridiculous story. drug cartels with their billions can steal anything or kill anybody they want, why would they go through the charade? this doesn't sound bogus at all." just to be clear, this isn't the only source of weapons cartels get their hands on. also just the idea of how to illegal -- control the guns that are illegally trafficked. obviously when you do these types of stories, you know the reporter needs to wear the bulletproof vest because viewers get intense about this. one viewer, kenneth, writes "i relouis to lifuse to live in a citizens don't have the right to support themselves." jasp jasper, "i don't understand where gun shops can sell to any

tom, dick or harry and not have any responsibility." >> heated emotions on both sides, for sure. ed lavendera, thanks. about 12 minutes now to the top of the hour. cold outside. if you live in the east coast, particularly in the northeast. you can see the cold air sweeping down from canada there north of the border. how long is it going to stay cold and how cold will it get? our rob marciano is checking out the weather forecast. he joins us in just a moment. stay with us.

this morning in new orleans, the partying is over. ash wednesday. sunny and 35 degrees right now. little bit cool, going up to a high of 52. mardi gras done for another year. obviously that's a good shot of interstate 10. one of the most amazing things of mardi gras is immediately after the parades are done, this incredible clean-up crew comes in and the next day you wouldn't even know that they've had a parade. really amazing. >> they were on the loud speaker saying "mardi gras's over." >> "wrap it up. this is not a drill, this is over." >> i'm always fascinating about that here in times square as well. the ball drops, they kick everybody out and there is not even a drop of confetti on the ground the next morning. >> mardi gras is just such a mess. the next day -- it's like nothing ever happened. our rob marciano is keeping

track of everything for us. it's because they catch all the beads. they catch it all right there, they can just head out. >> exactly. you got to clean it up, make room for the conventioneers who come in for the rest of the year, and other people, too. temperatures cold across parts of the south, really cold the eastern two-thirds of the country. the big storm that rolled through yeesterday, bringing al this snow to the east, clearing out. we will see some lake-effect snow today but for the most part not as intense this time of year because the lakes are either colder or see a little bit more in the way of ice cover. you can't tap that moisture. erie being the most shallow, it has the most amount of ice and in some spots seems completely frozen over. 27 in atlanta currently. 33 for the clean-up efforts in new orleans. 25 in jackson. we continue this unusually coal air. high temperatures today only getting into the mid 40s across parts of the deep south. then another shot of cool air

expected to come in. we continue to see this feed of canadian type air come in to the east coast. of course the canadians would like to see it on the west coast in vancouver where they are struggling with the warm temperatures. by the way, in the lower 50s today again in vancouver. >> rob, thanks so much. still ahead, can aspirin save breast cancer patients insuring a better outcome years down the road? we'll talk about the results of a fascinating new study with our sanjay gupta in a moment. 53 minutes past the hour. so, now you can get a great deal on any volkswagen. green one! ow. like our award-winning cc. white one! [ chuckles ] or the fuel-efficient jetta. ooh! red one! [ sighs ] or the tiguan. black one! oh. two for flinching. plus, every volkswagen includes no-charge, scheduled, care-free maintenance. silver one! ohh! on any volkswagen? yeah. [ male announcer ] with great deals on all 13 models...

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. 55 minutes past the hour. time for your a.m. house call. a new study says aspirin may be able to save breast cancer patients. >> research shows that the drug stopped breast cancer from coming back and killing women. we're paging our dr. sanjay gupta this morning. cnn's chief medical correspondent is in atlanta for us this morning. this sounds on the surface at least, sanjay, like it is big. >> well, potentially, john. but we talked a lot about aspirin and potentially its benefits on all sorts of different diseases, including cancer in the past. first, this wasn't an actual study as much as an observation of a potential effect here. what they are talking about specifically is women who had breast cancer who were treated for breast cancer, and who are now in remission. if these women were taking

aspirin at a low dose, not the full dose of aspirin but a lower dose, what they found was interesting. they found that these women were half as likely to actually spread the breast cancer to other parts of their body, and they were half as likely to die from breast cancer as well over a period of time. again, the aspirin itself seemed to be associated with this benefit but the problem here -- think what we always have to be careful of when reporting stuff like this -- is that women who took aspirin, were they also taking care of themselves in some other way, what other factors could have potentially played a role here with regard to the benefit of not spreading their breast cancer, not dying from it. real quick, john, you remember, this is the nurse's health study. we talked about this a lot on "american morning." this was also the same study that at one time found a significant benefit from hormone replacement therapy on heart disease in women. we know that wasn't true. it also at one point found a benefit of vitamin e on heart disease and we know that wasn't true. so aspirin could have a lot of

benefits here but we aren't quite ready to recommend it for everybody with breast cancer. >> so they need to conduct, as you were calling it, some gold standard trial, like further research to sort of see if this is really the case? >> yeah. what you really have to do is, it's called a prospective study. women who were not taking aspirin at all but had -- they're very similar in two groups. only thing they changed was they added aspirin in one of the groups and they basically saw how those women did. everything else was the same, smokers, nonsmokers, all of that was controlled for us. then you start getting answers. for example, we know aspirin can be a benefit to heart disease, can be a ben knefit to some peo with heart disease but guidelines are very specific as to who can benefit from this. they talk about men between the ages of 45 to 79, women between 55 to 79 who are considered high risk. that was after lots and lots of study trying to figure out who would most benefit from this.

that's the utility of studies like this. we're not quite there with breast cancer and aspirin yet. >> i got you. so we all shouldn't just be taking a low dose protectively because we see aspirin works in many different instances? >> right. and a low dose, to be fair, there is not that much aspirin but it can cause some problems. it is a blood thinner essentially. can cause stomach irritation, even intestinal bleeding, can make you at higher risk for bleeding if you fall. as with everything, you have to sort of weigh the risks and benefits. >> dr. sanjay gupta, thanks so much. (announcer) you can make a bigger difference in the world. you can make a positive change in your career. you can make a greater contribution to the greater good. and you can start today, by earning your degree online... at walden university. where advanced degrees advance the quality of life.

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